▶ Your Answer :
There is some discrepancy over whether government have to increase the tax on cigarettes or not. In the reading passage, there is ample support for the author's claim that there are several benefits for raising the tax on tobacco. However, the professor in the lecture gives three reasons as a rebuttal to the author's point. To begin with, the lecturer contends that increasing the tax can not deter young people from smoking. Black markets and smuggling are rampant in society. These are why a lot of young people are not affected by higher tax. Futhermore, smugglers offers cigarettes more cheaply and did not check receiver's identity. Thus it is more handy for teenagers to buy them in black markets. This refutes the reading passage's claim that paying more tax prevent the youth from starting to smoke. In addition, the lecturer points out that it does not benefit for reviving environment. In other words, It does not helpful for cleaning maleficent chemicals or planting new trees. This is because the more expensive cigarettes are, the fewer people buy them. Thus more tax will result in less revenues which are opposite to the projection. This counters the reading passage's assertion that increasing the tax enable government to repair damaged regions. Lastly, the lecturer maintains that it does not make sense that more tax can relieve poverty. According to his suggestion, tobacco industry create a lot of jobs such as agriculture, transporting, and retailing. If government require more taxes on cigarettes, careers related to cigarettes might disappear. Therefore, it will make poverty far more serious. This casts doubt on the reading passage's claim that the revenue made by raising tax can be advantageous to reduce poverty. This is because it can be utilized to develop social welfare system. s |